1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to electro-optic PCB headers which employ resilient ferrule alignment technology in aligning a waveguide's end face with an optically active device of the assembly. Specifically, the present invention relates to active device ferrule subassemblies for such headers, having integral heat sink and rentention capability.
2. The Prior Art
Compact packaging techniques for electro-optically active devices facilitating the alignment between an input/output waveguide and the active device, are needed by the electrical industry. One promising approach advocates the incorporation of an electro-optically active device into a resilient ferrule with the ferrule being eventually inserted into a connector housing in alignment with a second ferrule mounted therein. Copending application, Ser. No. 891,793, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses such an assembly, and product produced according to the teachings thereof has met with favorable commercial response.
While the above technique is effective in packaging many active components, relatively high power devices, e.g. Burrus style LED's cannot be so packaged since such devices require heat sinks. Conventionally, a rearwardly projecting stud is used for these types of devices, but utilization of a stud in a ferrule would be awkward. Moreover, assuming a heat sink stud could be conveniently packaged in a ferrule, a separate nut would be required for retaining the ferrule subassembly in a connector housing, and this would necessarily increase the cost of the resulting assembly.
Accordingly, the industry has been in need of a ferrule assembly approach and structure, whereby an active device is packaged in a ferrule assembly having heat sinking means provided for the dispersion of heat generated by the device. Further, a means for retaining the ferrule assembly in a connector housing is needed and, ideally, retention and heat sinking functions would be served by a single assembly component. Finally, because of inherent difficulty in the handling of electro-optic chips, it would be desirable for any proposed active ferrule package to be amenable to semi-automatic assembly techniques for the cost reduction efficiencies thereby achieved.